My previous efforts at incorporating blueberries in cheese have been disappointing, but I thought this cheese style might be a better fit. I'm keeping this BB cheese close to the vest right now but I had to leak the photo.

This cheese seems to be at the appropriate point to cut. Normal age for this style is 4-5 weeks. Today marks 5 weeks 4 days.

I first washed the linens off under cool running water using a light touch with my cheese brush and dried them with paper towels. Then I let then air dry a bit before cutting.

The texture, salt level, and flavor is consistently good as it was with the first effort. Anyone wishing to make a nice little table cheese for fruit & bread or for sandwiches could do worse than this little cheese that is complete in a little over a month's time. It is mild, creamy, and tasty.

A cheese to you for a such a nice outcome. Those are two wonderful looking cheeses. What are the dimensions of the mould you use to make those? I'm thinking I might try and make something like this. I've got some containers that I have to drill holes in to make some moulds for smaller sized cheeses.

- Jeff

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The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

A cheese to you for a such a nice outcome. Those are two wonderful looking cheeses. What are the dimensions of the mould you use to make those? I'm thinking I might try and make something like this. I've got some containers that I have to drill holes in to make some moulds for smaller sized cheeses.

- Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. Those are Reblochon moulds. I like them a lot. I've used them for Reblochon and the two Saint Paulin makes. Very nice. Makes about a 420 gram cheese. I haven't done it yet, but iratherfly has used them in mini-Tomme cheeses.

It doesn't bother you using raw milk for young cheeses? , I have some Brie and Cambozola made with raw , I was planning on waiting the 60 days before eating , maybe that's just being silly though , they could be overripe by then.

A cheese to you , but can I take one away for the blueberry thing? , just kidding , I'm not a fan of fruit infused cheeses anyway.

A cheese to you!

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No..........I'm not a professional CheeseMaker , but I play one on TV.

Hey Boof, I was wondering if you could help me out with my washed rind cheeses, I've looked at a few of your makes. I seem to have quite a bit of success getting a nice orange rind on them, so it's nice to know that I can actually do something right. Right now, I have a Port Salut and a Limburger going(both 1lb wheels). The question is, how do I know when they are ready? My book instructs washing the Port Salut for 6 weeks and it will bulge slightly, be soft in the middle and be bright orange. Well, I'm there already, after two weeks, is this because of the small size? It looks good enough to eat, but I feel I'd be jumping the gun. My understanding is that as time goes on, once you have the rind formed, you wash less and less frequently. Do you ever stop completely?

If I just keep washing and washing for, lets say 6 weeks, how will that impact the flavour? My guess is making it more pungent and stinky.If I stop washing at 2 weeks and let it age for the remaining 4 weeks, how will that impact the flavour differently?If I eat it now, after 2 weeks of washing... you get where I'm going.

Sorry that there are so many questions.... I'm aware that all of these could be answered with "Try it and find out!," which will most likely happen anyway. I'm enjoying these washed rinds very much. The morning washing ritual is very therapeutic. Also has a side effect of making me feel like a god to my microscopic bacterial populace.

Thanks

My meager experience has shown that my one-pound 5 inch (450g/12.7cm) cheese wheels will ripen in 4-6 weeks. I have also had washed rind 3-4 lb (1360-1814g) bricks and wheels. The larger format cheeses take a bit longer to ripen. I generally wash the cheeses with a 3-5% brine that I've dosed with PLA or SR3 + Geo13. Once I either get an orange linens going, I can either keep hitting it repeatedly with the dosed brine or switch out and begin washing with brine only. If the rind had developed a slightly gritty, white coating (Geo), then I would stop washing and begin rubbing the rind daily or every other day. The cheeses are maintained in a minicave which keeps the humidity at a comfy 90%+ which helps to maintain the rind development.

After weeks of this rind treatment, I may decide to stop further rind development by washing the rind under cool, running water...brushing the orange linens off. At that point, the cheese is dried with clean paper towels and additionally allowed to airdry before going back into the minicave or being vacuum-sealed. If the linens remain on the cheese rind and the cheese is vacuum-sealed, the result after weeks or months in the bag becomes a pasty nastiness. However, a Geo-dominant rind seems to handle the vacuum bag environment fairly well and remains dry.